Phoenix, Arizona is not messing around when it comes to their tech ecosystem. The numbers are undeniable and the weather isn’t too bad either. If you’re wondering why this desert city is able to compete with the big dogs when it comes to tech, it should be fairly obvious. Growth Everyone knows that without growth, an ecosystem isn’t going anywhere. Phoenix is working hard to set itself apart from the pack, as it has been growing substantially for the last few years....

Their platform, Crowdasaurus, builds white-label crowdfunding communities to highlight these projects where they can best be seen by the public. Crowdasaurus partners your project specifically with big companies, organizations, and nonprofits looking to get involved within their communities. From there, these big-time partners can leverage the power of their already large social networks to get you the exposure you deserve, which ultimately leads to more funding. These relationships fostered by Crowdasaurus also provide the institutions an opportunity to engage potential new customers as the crowdfunding project goes through its normal cycle....

With the platform, sales reps have a one-stop shop for finding accurate information on prospects during each step of the lead generation process. It doesn’t stop there though; Datanyze helps users scour the web for new companies to approach, find the right contacts to network with, and find up to date email addresses for contacts. Reps browsing the internet can click the Insider Icon, located in the top right with your other Chrome extensions, which will instantly reveal the revenue, employee count, and Alexa traffic rank of the company powering the website they’re on....

Finding new ways to optimize productivity is certainly welcome – in a world where we’re constantly interrupted by the noise and activity of on our devices, methods that allow us to decrease those distractions and increase our work output is something that I’m sure many of us desire. But, the question then becomes: is creativity a good price in exchange for that productivity? Kounios recently had a Q&A featured in The Washington Post, in which he talks about his studies into the origins of creativity and insightful thinking....

The deal terms are not yet clear, but one would anticipate that if you are in with Apple as an entity in China, you would want to stay in and expand on that relationship – it becomes a defining character of your company, it brings a lot of prestige, and the name recognition – and with it, the potential for increased income. Capitalizing on a such a relationship could be a great tool for Didi, from the marketing angle to the perception and company valuation to the usage of the various and latest Apple products before it is released to other competitors....

Ellen DeGeneres’s selfie from the Oscars is already 2014’s biggest tweet. It was taken on a Samsung Galaxy S5 and staged by Samsung to correlate with its #TheNextBigThing Twitter campaign. It marks the first record-breaking brand-sponsored tweet. This tweet is already being touted by the agency of record as a victory. What’s the problem, then? For Samsung, this was a big missed opportunity since the tweet was missing its hashtag, #TheNextBigThing....

With the KickStarter success rate being around 37%, this puts the Arlington, VA based startup well ahead of the curve. In fact, 13% of campaigns don’t receive any funding, and only 12% of all successful KickStarter campaigns have raised more than $20K (up to $100K). However, Masavage is no stranger to successful crowdfunding campaigns. Last year they raised more than $99K with a goal of $40K on their Android version....

Midroll Media functions as a podcasting ad network and a producer. It was acquired by Scripps just last year, for $50 million. The Wall Street Journal has the details: Given the shrinking real estate available for apps on iPhones, Scripps appears to be betting big. If they secure the best podcast app early, they may easily have the only good podcasting app available in a year or two. They already owned Howl, a subscription-based podcast app, which Stitcher could be considered a competitor to....

The hard work paid off: her agency was acquired in Fall 2016 by Casual Astronaut, and she is now the Chief Marketing and Communication Officer for PATH. At the Techstars Startup Week Phoenix 2018 powered by Chase for Business, Sandine shared her lessons learned and tips to building a diverse team. It’s a Rollercoaster Most founders aren’t prepared for the mental rollercoaster that lies ahead in startup life. Being at the top can get lonely, scary, and stressful when you know all the tough decisions stop with you....

Here are some tips on how to create a web design specifically for e-commerce sites, with the vital features that will help boost sales on your website: User Friendly Navigation Navigation is very important in an online shop’s web design. A user-friendly navigation enables online shoppers to easily look for the items they wish to buy. While there is no standard set of rules for what actually constitutes good navigation, the goal is to create a smooth route from the site’s landing page all the way to the checkout....

In this episode, we touch on, how Ezra got into angel investing, what motivates Chicago Ventures, what the one question every founder should ask of their VCs, and why Ezra prefers growing a business over starting one. Plus we’ll also talk about where he sources his investments from, why producing content as a VC is important, how they look for outliers in the entrepreneurs they back, and how he finds and cultivates his mentors....

Unlike smartphones and social media, facial recognition technology leverages the fact that everyone, well, has a face. Its deployment is based on target data that effectively can’t be blocked or circumvented, short of wearing a ski-mask. When your own face becomes a data asset that’s personally identifiable, trackable, and usable by profit-hungry companies, government organizations, and legal bodies, the right to remain faceless should become a priority concern. The Evolution of Facial Recognition Facial recognition didn’t start out quite so smart....

And, in a meta twist, the false emails were themselves warning about a (non-existent) cybersecurity threat. That’s right, just when we all thought we were completely jaded about how all-encompassing cyberthreats appeared to be, now we can’t even trust FBI emails about a crime to not also be crimes themselves! Here’s how it happened, and what we can learn from the whole debacle. How the FBI Got Hacked The short version of what appears to have happened here is that a hacker abused an insecure code that was left accessible in an FBI online portal....

It’s been over a year since Fitbit launched a product, with 2019’s Versa Lite. What’s more, it’s the first new Fitbit product since it was announced that Google was going to buy the company. Is the Charge 4 a worthwhile successor to the excellent Charge 3? And, is it even worth buying a fitness tracker in 2020? Fitbit Charge 4 – Everything You Need to Know The Fitbit Charge 4 costs $149....

Mapkin Which mapping app do you launch when, let’s say, you’re heading off to a party? With Google Street view you can check what the place looks like, and Maps will help you get there. That’s fine, but a recently released app, Mapkin, is worth your attention: It is the first GPS with crowdsourced voice guidance, which gets you smarter directions. Oh, and if you join, you can help others by sharing tips about landmarks, tricky turns, and more… Mapkin is available for free on the App Store....

The MoviePass deal will give you a card. Just show up at your local participating theater, check in on the app, and MoviePass will load up your card with the exact ticket price you need. Here’s how they explained it on their site today: MoviePass has offered a similar “Offline Netflix” service for years, but never for lower than $30 per month, so this price point is a radical change....

While the programming side is amazing, the implementation and development side of the coin is somewhat unnerving. The Futureful team currently has “no specific dates yet for other devices or platforms,” such as Android or Windows, which will severely limit their consumer market. Also, the team had initially pursued a browser-based edition of Futureful, yet abandoned it after hitting some roadblocks, and they “have no plans to revisit a purely browser-based version....

Though prices are still nominal compared to years past, there are now reports of at least one Garland, TX station charging as much as $8 a gallon. As the Labor Day holiday approaches, gas prices typically increase anyways, but the nation may continue to see prices rise even further until the refineries are put back online and as consumer’s fear of a potential gas shortage increases demand. In an effort to combat these shifts in fuel costs, we’ve compiled a list of apps and resources to help you find the cheapest fuel near you....

Someone did. And they did it on Connect for a Cause, a site that lets anyone auction off meetings for charity. CEO and cofounder Jason Nicosia is counting on how desperately people want connections – and how hard they are to get. The New Orleans startup launched in public beta in late January, after raising almost $30,000 for charity during a private test. Entrepreneurs and mentors, as well as celebrities and artists, are auctioning off their time and choosing from a couple hundred thousand charities to donate to....

To get you started on the right foot we’ve done a bit of digging to see what devices will help get you off that couch to run that first 5K, otherwise be a bit more active, and of course the heavy hitters for the fitness and cardio junkies. Here are just a few of the top fitness items we’ve reviewed or are top sellers in their field. Looking for a bit of inspiration?...